Mackey A G - Encylopedia of Freemasonry - The Grand Masonic ...

148 CHINESE
CHRISTIANIZATION
digenous to China, is the "Most Ancient
Order of Suastica," or the Brotherhood of the
Mystic Cross, said to have been founded 1027
B .c. by Fohi, and introduced into China 975
B .c. It contains three degrees : Apprentice
Brothers, Tao Sze (or Doctors of Reason), and
Grand Master. The Apprentice wears the
Jaina Cross, worked on a blue silk ribbon ; the
Tao Sze wears a cross of silver ; and the Grand
Master one in gold. The meetings are called
"Tents ."
Chinese Classics and Symbolism . Mr .
Giles, well versed in matters pertaining to
Chinese literature, customs, and archeology,
is the authority for stating that in the written
language of the Chinese many curious expressions
were in use seven hundred years before
the Christian era, or only about two hundred
years after the death of King Solomon, bearing
close proximity to those used prominently in
Masonry. The following quotation from the
works of Mencius, the great disciple of Confucius,
is given in illustration : "A Master
Mason, in teaching his apprentices, makes
use of the compasses and the square . Ye who
are engaged in the pursuit of wisdom must
also make use of the compasses and the
square ." These two words, "compasses" and
"square," in the Chinese language represent
"order, regularity, and propriety ." Mr. Giles
points out that in the oldest of the Chinese
classics, "which embraces a period from the
twenty-fourth to the seventh century before
Christ, there are distinct allusions to this
particular symbolism ."
Chinese Secret Societies . In China, as
in all other countries, secret societies have existed,
such as the Tien-tee-whee, or Association
of Heaven and Earth, and the Tien-lee,
or Society of Celestial Reason . But the attempt
to trace any analogy between them and
Freemasonry is a mistaken one . These societies
have in general been of a political character,
with revolutionary tendencies, and as
such, have been prohibited by the government,
sometimes under the penalty of the death or
banishment of their members . Their similarity
to Masonry consists only in these points :
that they have forms of initiation, an esoteric
instruction, and secret modes of recognition .
Beyond these all further resemblance fails .
Chisel. In the American Rite the chisel is
one of the working tools of a Mark Master,
and symbolizes the effects of education on the
human mind . For as the artist, by the aid of
this instrument, gives form and regularity to
the shapeless mass of stone, so education, by
cultivating the ideas and by polishing the rude
thoughts, transforms the ignorant savage into
the civilized being .
In the English ritual, the chisel is one of the
working tools of the Entered Apprentice .
With the same reference to the advantages of
education. Preston (B . II., Sect . vi .) thus elaborates
its symbolism as one of the implements
of Masonry : "The chisel demonstrates the
advantages bf discipline and education . The
mind, like the diamond in its original state, is
unpolished ; but as the effects of the chisel on
the external coat soon present to view the
latent beauties of the diamond, so education
discovers the latent virtues of the mind and
draws them forth to range the large field of
matter and space, in order to display the summit
of human knowledge, our duty to God and
to man ." (Illustrations, ed . 1812, p . 86, footnote.)
But the idea is not original with Preston.
It is found in Hutchinson, who, however,
does not claim it as his own . It formed,
most ~robably, a portion of the lectures of the
period . In the French system, the chisel is
placed on the tracing board of the Fellow-
Craft as an implement with which to work
upon and polish the Rough Ashlar . It has,
therefore, there the same symbolic signification.
Chivalry. The origin of chivalry is involved
in very great obscurity . Almost every
author who has written on this subject has
adopted an hypothesis of his own . Some derive
the institution from the equestrian order
of ancient Rome, while others trace it to the
tribes who, under the name of Northmen,
about the ninth century, invaded the southern
parts of Europe . Warburton ascribes the
origin of chivalry to the Arabians ; Pinkerton,
Mallet, and Percy, to the Scandinavians .
Clavel derives it from the secret societies of
the Persians, which were the remains of the
mysteries of Mithras . In Christendom, it
gave rise to the orders of knighthood, some of
which have been incorporated into the Masonic
system. (See Knighthood .)
Christ, Order of. After the overthrow
of the Order of Knights Templars throughout
Europe, Dennis I ., King of Portugal, in 1317
solicited of Pope John XXII. permission to
reestablish the Order of the Temple in his
dominions under the name of the Order of
Christ, and to restore to it the possessions
which had been wrested from the Templars .
The Pope consented, approved the statutes
which had been submitted to him, and, in
1319, confirmed the institution, reserving to
himself and to his successors the right of creating
knights, which has given rise to the pontifical
branch of the Order which exists at
Rome . The knights follow the rule of St . Benedict,
and conform in all points to the statutes
of the Order of the Temple . The Grand Mastership
is vested in the King of Portugal, and
the Order having been secularized in 1789, the
members were divided into the three classes of
six Grand Crosses, four hundred and fifty
Commanders, and an unlimited number of
knights . It was designated the Most Noble
Order, and none but those nobly descended, of
unsullied character, could be admitted . That
the grandfather had been a mechanic was an
impediment to the exaltation even of knights
of the third class . The Grand Crosses and
Commanders had generally valuable grants
and great privileges ; the latter were also enjoyed
by the knights, with pensions with reversion
to their wives .
Christianization of Freemasonry . The
interpretation of the symbols of Freemasonry
from a Christian point of view is a theory